Free Republic

The British Army needs to be prepared to “rapidly expand” to field a “citizen army”, its top general said, praising European states for bringing back conscription and saying “we must similarly prepare”. We are now living in the “prewar generation” and it is time to take “preparatory steps to enable placing our societies on a war footing”, Chief of the General Staff General Sir Patrick Sanders told the International Armoured Vehicles Conference in Twickenham, England, on Wednesday morning. Limited elements of the speech were trailed in the Daily Telegraph in advance, characterising them as a warning that the public faces...

Russia's annual in-person commemoration of its country's World War II fighters is not going to take place this year, according to state authorities. The nixing of the face-to-face "Immortal Regiment" march comes amid reports that the nation's major national event Victory Day event, which is scheduled to take place May 9 and celebrates the Soviet Union's role in defeating Nazi Germany, may be canceled or downsized in certain regions including Crimea, Kursk and Belgorod due to ongoing security concerns resulting from the war with Ukraine. Russian State Duma Deputy Elena Tsunaeva, co-chairperson of the central headquarters of the "Immortal Regiment...

Saul Anuzis: One of the big lessons is the fact that states like the Baltics, Ukraine, and Poland threaten the Russian system. Because people realise that there's an alternative to having a strong dictator leader and a system that basically “takes care of you” because you can't somehow take care of yourself. There's an alternative that’s the danger for the Russians. Just walk through the Soviet republics and take a look at these people experiencing free markets, free minds, education, western values coming in, westerners coming in, finding out they're not all enemies. They're not all enemies of the state....

The Kremlin and its agents have many explanations and justifications for the invasion of Ukraine. Those depend on the target audience: when they address the far-left, they swear by anti-colonialism. When they talk to the far-right, they speak about “wokeism” and traditional values. When they turn to Europeans, they claim the US is exploiting the continent and that Washington provoked the war. When they move to the Middle East, they speak about the invasion of Iraq and the “Western Crusades”. When they look at Africa, they pretend that Russia did not colonise swaths of the Asian continent. The list goes...

Scott Ritter describes the paymaster system in the Country 404 military. All of that is being done with US taxpayer money of course.

A trove of leaked documents has revealed the depth of America's spying apparatus around the world, detailing how the US continues to infiltrate allied nations amid heightening global tensions. The documents, which provided the clearest picture yet of the Kremlin's depleted military capacity, were telling as to the extent to which US espionage tactics have effectively penetrated Vladimir Putin's war machine. However, the intelligence breach, which included reports from late February to early March but have only been leaked online in recent days, also unearthed probes in a variety of nations, including South Korea, Iran and the UK, per the...

The Pentagon announced Friday it is reviewing whether alleged US government documents supposedly detailing highly classified plans for a spring military offensive by Ukrainian forces were leaked by pro-Russian social media accounts this week.At least five photos of printed presentation slides and maps were posted to Telegram Thursday. Three of the photos are labeled “Secret” and one is labeled “Top Secret,” according to a review by The Post. A fourth shows no visible classified markings. (snip) The slides also indicate the presence of nearly 100 special-operations troops in Ukraine from North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries, including the UK, US, France,...

'UK Ministry of Defence 'said in its daily intelligence briefing that Russian forces have “highly likely advanced into the [Bakhmut] town centre, and has seized the West Bank of the Bakhmutka River. Ukraine’s key supply route to the west of the town is likely severely threatened.” 'Eastern Military Command' spokesperson Serhiy Cherevatyi said that Ukraine controlled 'the situation' in Bakhmut, understood Russian intentions and that Moscow had tactical success in some places, but was paying a high price for it. ' New York Times reports'. Documents were spread on Twitter and Telegram, and reportedly contain charts and details about weapons...

A fire raged near the Kremlin yesterday as Vladimir Putin carried out secret talks with Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko. As the two leaders met, emergency services swarmed to the blaze at a defence ministry building at 19 Znamenka Street, Moscow. Dramatic footage shows smoke gushing from windows and rising into the sky. Around 50 people were evacuated, with the cause of the fire currently unconfirmed. Some reports said the section of the building on fire was a department of military property dealing with facilities across the country. No injuries were reported. As firefighters battle to extinguish the flames, Putin was...

Russia upgraded its main battle tank fleet to take on Ukraine's western tanks. As per TASS, Russia is installing the modern Arena-M reactive armour and high precision systems group on its tanks like the T-72, T-90, and T-80. Russia's T-72 main battle tank successfully passed tests using Arena-M armour. The Russian defence ministry is planning to quickly replace armoured troops with the Arena-M suite. Watch this video to know more.

Senior official says Kyiv does not exclude liberation of occupied peninsula by military means. Kyiv is willing to discuss the future of Crimea with Moscow if its forces reach the border of the Russian-occupied peninsula, a top adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told the Financial Times. The comments by Andriy Sybiha, deputy head of Zelenskyy’s office, are the most explicit statement of Ukraine’s interest in negotiations since it cut off peace talks with the Kremlin last April. “If we will succeed in achieving our strategic goals on the battlefield and when we will be on the administrative border with...

In Moscow, the Orthodox came to the Holy Lake in the Kosino-Ukhtomsky district with the intention of preventing the construction of a mosque. According to the project, the religious building should become the largest in Europe. Local residents are adamantly against the project, as the lake is a holy place for Orthodox believers, Bloknot reports. The townspeople are in no way against the mosque, they are only asking to move the building to another place. The appeal was signed by several thousand people. “We will be here until we hear the decision that there will be no mosque here,” the...

Russia has warned it would be forced to take “retaliatory measures" to address what it called security threats created by Finland's (NATO) membership. https://www.euronews.com/2023/04/04/russia-warns-of-retaliatory-measures-over-finlands-nato-membership By Euronews with AP • Updated: 04/04/2023 - 16:08 Russia has warned it would be forced to take “retaliatory measures" to address what it called security threats created by Finland's membership. It had already warned that it would bolster defences along its border with NATO if the alliance deploys any additional troops or equipment to its new member. The move is a strategic and political blow to President Vladimir Putin, who has long complained about NATO’s...

James Olson, the spy agency's former chief of counterintelligence, said he believes the sharks are now circling for the tyrant back home in Russia. Olson said that Putin is now in a "no win" situation - with the war either devolving into a grinding statelemate, or ending with Vlad's death. He said if Putin stays in power he will never give up the war - and so the way to end it is for Vlad to be killed or ousted. Olson, who served for over 30 years in the CIA and won medals for his service, explained that things don't...

Moldovan President Maia Sandu has stated that Russia wants to use her country against Ukraine like the Kremlin uses Belarus. Sandu said Russia is trying to undermine and overthrow the government in Chișinău, and the Moldovan authorities have evidence of such actions. "It is clear that Russia is trying to install a pro-Russian government in Chișinău to use Moldova against Ukraine, as is the case, for example, with Belarus," the president said. She recalled the recent statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding his intention to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. "This is exactly what Russia wants to do...

Russian authorities on Thursday arrested an American journalist for The Wall Street Journal on spying charges. Evan Gershkovich was detained in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg on suspicion of “espionage in the interests of the American government,” the Federal Security Service (FSB) said in a statement, which was reported by state media. The FSB accused Gershkovich of collecting “information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.”

Orthodox monks who've been ordered out of a monastery in Kyiv refused to leave on Wednesday, as a deadline to vacate the complex expired. The dispute over the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery, Ukraine's most revered Orthodox site, is part of a wider religious conflict playing out in parallel with the war. The monks using the property belong to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which has been accused of links to Russia. But the site is owned by the Ukrainian government, and the agency overseeing the property notified the UOC earlier this month that, as of March 29, it was terminating the lease.

After a year of combat, many of these homespun groups of volunteers are fighting with themselves and undermining the war effort. Some have wasted money or stolen valor. Others have cloaked themselves in charity while also trying to profit off the war, records show. One of the best-known Americans on the battlefield is James Vasquez. Days after the invasion, Mr. Vasquez, a Connecticut home-improvement contractor. ... he has posted battlefield videos online, at least once broadcasting his unit’s precise location to everyone, including the enemy. He used his story to solicit donations..... “I was in Kuwait during Desert Storm, and...

The EU is sending one million artillery shells to Ukraine at the eye-watering price of two billion Euros, meanwhile the United Kingdom has confirmed it would be sending depleted uranium anti-tank rounds along with the main battle tanks it is donating to the country. A long-anticipated arms procurement deal by EU members-plus-Norway through the European Defence Agency to procure and send one million 155mm artillery rounds [pictured, above] to Ukraine has been agreed, ending months of discussion. The €2 billion ($2.15 billion) price tag will be divided in two tranches, the EU said, with the first billion used to compensate...

Bakhmut is encircled. All roads in and out of it are under Russian artillery fire. Over the last three days fighting has largely stopped there. No one seems to know why the operation was halted. There are unconfirmed claims that Ukraine is preparing a counterattack to free Bakhmut from its encirclement. That attack is supposed to go off as soon as the muddy ground has dried up a bit. Meanwhile other encirclement has taken place in Avdiivka: Avdiivka (Ukrainian: Авдіївка, IPA: [ɐu̯ˈd(j)ijiu̯kɐ]; is a city of regional significance in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. The city is located in the center of...